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Kickstart This: Terminator the Second

Here's an amazingly excellent idea for a mash-up: a theatrical production of Terminator 2 re-written in the language of Shakespeare. Nashville-based theater company Husky Jackal dreamed up the project, and before you ask the inevitable question -- why T-2? -- here's their answer:

First of all, it’s just an awesome movie. And you’d be amazed by how perfectly the themes so pervasive in Shakespeare’s plays lend themselves to the story of the Terminator: horrific prophecies, charges of madness, the terror of an implacable enemy, the fierceness of a mother’s love for her son. While it’s loaded with outrageous action sequences, one-liners and comic moments (which we’ve worked hard to honor), Terminator 2 is a theme-driven film that invests heavily in its main characters. In our reworking, we were continually struck by extended passages from Shakespeare that seemed as though they could have been written specifically with these late 20th century characters in mind.

I was skeptical until I read a page of their script, which is awesome. The language isn't just Shakespeare-esque, as in this silly comedy sketch I wrote in college, but is taken directly from "folios printed by or before 1685." They adhered to some pretty strict rules: "Only proper nouns and pronouns were subject to change, as dictated by the plot. In these instances, all proper nouns are supplanted only by pronouns or other proper nouns, and all pronouns by other pronouns. In some cases, corresponding verb tenses are modified. These practices enabled us to accurately retell the story of Terminator 2: Judgment Day while remaining true to the words of Shakespeare in form (if less so in intent)."

So what's it sound like? Here's a piece of the scene where Sarah tries to convince her psychiatrist to let her out of the mental hospital so that she can rescue her son:

If that sounds like something you think should come to fruition -- I certainly do -- then you can help kickstart the project here.

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Also on Mental Floss:

DID YOU KNOW? Marlon Brando hated memorizing lines so much that he posted cue cards everywhere to help him get through scenes.
He even asked for lines to be written on an actress's posterior. (That request was denied.)